


The Laundry Day That Changed The World

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Genre: 1000-3000 words, Challenge Response, Fall Fandom Free For All, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-28
Updated: 2008-10-28
Packaged: 2017-10-08 18:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warnings: mild swearing and evilness.</p><p>Made for Runawayblue for the <i>Fall Fandom Free-For-All</i> with the prompt "Dr. Horrible, no pairing The day he decides to become so freaking horrible; He goes over the things he's going to need; a catchphrase, a sidekick, a costume...".</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Laundry Day That Changed The World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Runawayblue](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Runawayblue).



It was the last straw. The injustice Billy had just witnessed was the very last final straw and he was not going to stand for these horrors anymore. The number of people who would just move someone else's laundry out of the dryer without even a courtesy comment to the room was just staggering, and he was going to make every single one of them pay.

As he sat on top of the washing machine (forced to rewash everything, as he had no idea where that stranger's hands had been) Billy pulled a notepad out of his bag and began to take notes.

If he wanted to make change the world, that would make him either a hero or a villain. He could be pretty heroic, Billy thought. He had been told often that he had the nice All-American boyish face, particularly with his blonde hair. It would be a simple thing to become a hero.

The problem was that heroes were too numerous. To be truly successful in his goal, Billy would need to be better than any other hero in the area and set the best possible role model for everyone else to follow. Starting with coin-op etiquette, of course.

The problem was Captain Hammer. He was the current head hero - the only game in town worth mentioning. Not only was his strength unquestionable, but he had far more charisma than any one person needed, not to mention a large family treasury. If Billy were to go up against Captain Hammer in a battle of looks, he might win, but in all other aspects of practical heroism, Hammer would win. He didn't even bother with a secret identity.

All of that added up to the conclusion that if he wanted to stay in this town, Billy needed to become a villain. He had no real problems with choosing villainy, unlike most people. What Billy was aiming for was a perfect world, and whether he achieved it through fear or love, the result would be the same.

If he was going to be a villain, however, Billy would need a secret weapon or power capable of defeating Captain Hammer. He could always relocate to a different area, where their hero wasn't quite as powerful, but for that very reason those locations had more villains who he would have to compete against. Given his goal of complete change, and his preferred timeline (before his next laundry day), moving was just not an option.

Which just left the question of power. Billy was willing to bet his brains against Hammer's brawns, provided he could get his hands on the right basic supplies. He sat for a few moments, allowing the rumble of the washing machine to sooth him, while he contemplated that problem.

Before he could reach a satisfactory solution, Billy noticed that the machine next to his was leaking, getting his basket wet. And of course, there were no paper towels in the dispensers, so even when he finally got his clothes dry, the would just be dampened again when he put them back in the basket.

Frustrated, Billy started to make a notation on his pad to look into washing machine maintenance standards once he ruled the county, but he stopped mid-word. Damp. There had been a boy in his high school. He'd gotten mediocre grades, but his parents had still ensured that he got into the finest college. The boy, whose name he couldn't quite remember, had always appeared damp, even when just sitting in class. Some students had teased him about it, and he had beaten them to a pulp.

If Billy could convince that boy that he had the potential to be a world-famous villain for _sweating_, it might solve a few of his problems.

First, the moist kid could probably take care of the rent, allowing Billy to work on his first invention. Billy would need to quit his job in order to have enough time to complete his plan, meaning that food and laundry quarters would need to be provided too. However, if he could convince… what's-his-name that the best way to become a villain was to first be a side-kick to the next up and coming evil genius, then he would have it made.

Billy circled "food," "rent," and "sidekick" and drew little lines from each of them to the word "damp." As soon as he got home, he'd find his old yearbook, and then he could cross three things off his list.

Not a bad start, for his first ten minutes of being a villain.

He would need to look up his local villainous masterminds and find out which one had the power to make him an official 'bad guy,' but that would have to wait until his laundry was done, of course. As would working on his evil laugh and making a costume that fit his name.

And that was the last thing on his list - choosing a name. He needed a really good name that would strike fear into the hearts of any people who heard it. It had to be evil, and yet smart, because that was his power. And it also had to convey something about the change he was looking for. Not getting quarters for the laundry machines kind of change, but the kind of change he wanted to make on the world.

He wanted a world where people respected (or at least feared) each other enough to be courteous. A world where no one stole dryers or let their shopping cart roll into someone else's car. That was the kind of world he was aiming for - one where the common cold had been cured and the common asshole had been killed.

He needed a name that conveyed all that, while still remaining tasteful and stylishly short. Something that conveyed his horribleness and his genius. Maybe Doctor something. Like Doctor Horrible.

Billy said the name a few more times, and liked the way it felt on his tongue. It felt right, and in terms of accurately conveying what he wanted it to, it was absolutely perfect. He thought he could get used to people saying "Dr. Horrible is here!"

And, as he would someday write in his evil memoir, that was how, on a beautiful spring afternoon, while doing laundry, Dr. Horrible was born.

Now all he needed was another quarter.


End file.
